THIS LAND IS MY LAND, THIS LAND IS YOUR MY LAND...

Road rage. A murderous glare when someone unknowingly steps in front. That extra jab at someone behind their backs. Feeling ripped off when we didn't first rip the other person off.

A lot of the freedoms we experience are based on the assumption that they will be there tomorrow. We don't assume otherwise. Thus, a lot of mental energy is then spent on protecting our sense of entitlement, our cultural practices and our personal space. But couldn't it happen, that one day, it's all taken away? It's unthinkable because most of this generation hasn't known what it's like to have something taken away, present company included. Or we believe, almost haphazourdly, that there is always some recourse that will keep us whole.

"Don't I have a choice?"
"That's not how it's supposed to be done!"
"Fine, I'll settle."
"They've forgotten about us..."
"If I change my name, will it be better?"
"How did that old song go?"
"Papa, why do all the other kids hate me?"
" I only know how to get food that way..."
"IT'S NOT FAIR!"
Imagine waking up and this is your reality.

Congrats to my sis who had a hand in the recent signing of the Maa-nulth treaty and what an experience it is for her to attend the initialling ceremony. "Listening to the speeches of some of the elders brought it all home though - of all the hard work and courage it took several generations of leaders to get to this point. One person put it into the international context, that in some other countries, people have resorted to violence in order to solve the question of land rights. In this case, it took 13 years of hard negotiating and patience. The focus was on the youths though - this treaty is for them to have a better future. To make that message more of a reality, they had the youths bring the treaty documents up to the front to be signed. It was really very special and very historic. The last treaty signed on Vancouver Island was in the 1850s."